Trader Joe’s Battered Fish Nuggets Review

We were in a bit of a fishy mood today, so we thought we’d check out Trader Joe’s Battered Fish Nuggets. Now, we’d already tried their Fish Sticks, which we thought were pretty alright, so we wanted to see how these fish nuggets would compare against them.

These are very easy to cook. Simply preheat your oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit, stick some fish nuggets on a greased pan, and cook them for 15 to 18 minutes. The box claims they should be a little bit crisp when they come out, so you’ll want to cook accordingly. Oh, and these little guys sizzle like mad while they cook, so don’t expect peace and quiet in your kitchen when these are in the oven!

These are made from Alaskan pollock, which is the standard type of fish used in fish sticks these days. It’s not an exciting choice by any means, but it is a tried-and-true classic. You should know exactly what to expect the second you pick up this box.

The breading is quite good. We agree with the box’s recommendation that you should let these nuggets crisp slightly, as a crispy texture does these little guys a world of good. Now, we’ve had bland fish breading in the past, and while this won’t knock you over with flavor, it has a nice taste to it. That alone gives these fish nuggets an advantage over many of their peers in the world of fish sticks.

While you can eat these plain if you want to, we also decided to try these with some tarter sauce. That’s a pretty classic fish topping, and these seemed like a perfect pairing for the stuff. We were correct in our assumptions, because these fishy treats really sing once they’re dipped in a little bit of tarter.

One box should contain about 16 nuggets. Ours had 17, but one of them was about 2/3 the size of the others, so we’d say that’s pretty close to 16. Four nuggets is considered a serving, though we think that’s a bit small. Our opinion is that a box is a pretty good small meal for two. You could hypothetically eat the whole thing at once, but these are actually reasonably filling, so we see no need to do so.

Four nuggets contain 240 calories (130 from fat) and 400 mg of sodium. That looks pretty good, but if you end up doubling your portion — which we recommend — then a serving goes up to 480 calories (260 from fat) and 800 mg of sodium. That doesn’t look quite as good.

The Trader Joe’s Battered Fish Nuggets are one of the better fish-stick-adjacent frozen products on the market. Whether these are eaten on their own or with a dab of tarter sauce, we think fish-stick enthusiasts will find a lot to love here.

If you want to learn more about the cooking instructions, nutrition, or ingredients in these Trader Joe’s fish bites, check out our package scans below.